The Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee of Gloucestershire Council met on Tuesday 14 July 2026 to discuss updates on maternity services, learning disabilities, and the performance of the Gloucestershire Integrated Care System. The committee also reviewed the work plan for future meetings.

Maternity Update

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on maternity services in Gloucestershire. This included discussions on the Maternity Needs Assessment: Developing A Case for Change, which was to summarise key outcomes from staff consultations. The update was also to cover the Baroness Amos (National) Maternity and Neonatal Investigation Report and the Ockenden Review. Additionally, the committee was to consider the CQC Report and its recommendations following an inspection in September 2025.

Professor Mark Pietroni was scheduled to provide a verbal update on temporary service changes related to maternity services. This included information on the suspension of the Gloucestershire home birth service due to safety concerns and plans to reinstate it, alongside the reopening of the Cheltenham Birth Centre. The report pack noted that there were no plans to close the Stroud Maternity Hospital. The committee was informed that future service changes would require a Quality Service Impact Assessment before implementation, and no final decisions had been made on reinstating services, pending consultation with staff and stakeholders.

Learning Disabilities Update

An update was scheduled on the Adult Learning Disability Review undertaken by the Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust^[1]. This review was presented to the committee on 27 January 2026.

Gloucestershire Integrated Care System (GICS) Performance Report

The committee was to receive an update on the performance of the Gloucestershire Integrated Care System (GICS)^[2] against NHS constitutional and other agreed standards. The report highlighted key achievements such as primary care access exceeding plans, strong vaccination programme performance, and cancer 62-day performance exceeding the national target. Areas of focus included urgent and emergency care performance, diagnostic capacity challenges, and mental health demand outstripping capacity. The committee was to consider the definition of Medical Imaging and revisit previous work on cancer wait times.

NHS Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board (ICB) Report

A report from the NHS Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board (ICB)^[3], also known as NHS Gloucestershire, was scheduled for consideration. This report provided updates from Integrated Care System (ICS) partners on the commissioning and provision of NHS services. Key actions requested included information on community services, neighbourhood planning, Community Diagnostic Centre locations, patient misdiagnosis data, and updates on children and young people's mental health services. The committee was also to receive ongoing updates from the Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust regarding services at Wotton Lawn Hospital^[4] in Gloucester. Concerns were raised about the impact of highway closures on the A40 and the arrangements for patient representation following changes to Healthwatch Gloucestershire. The report also addressed NHS budget allocations related to inequalities, diversity, and inclusivity, referencing the Lord Mann review and the Public Sector Equality Duty.

Work Plan

The committee was to review its work plan for future meetings. Proposals included considering improvements in diagnostic services, further updates on the Maternity Needs Assessment, the Ockenden Review, the Maternity CQC Inspection Report, and the Baroness Amos Report. The committee also planned to discuss Medical Imaging and conduct a review of Cancer Wait Times.